Hydrogen, foil and 50-knot top speed, that’s the bar set by the new Bluegame BGH, American Magic’s chase boat for the 2024 America’s Cup(we tell you about it here).
Before these, however, there had rarely been so much concern about looking at the chase boats in use for the Cup, a role often relegated to heavy-duty inflatables, less capable of taking attention away from the historic event.
Today, however, the focus returns to them, specifically, to the assistance boats of the past.
Or rather, on one in particular, a gem of Classic Boat: Bystander, America’s Cup‘s most iconic (and long-lived) support boat .
Bystander, the cult Classic Boat of the America’s Cup.
In the incredible history of the America’s Cup, few boats have been present for more than one campaign, with only two of them able to win the Cup twice, not multiple times; Columbia and Intrepid.
Tearing their record to shreds, however, is our leading lady, Bystander, present at multiple beats from 1930 to 1970, with no less than three victories (as support for the winning team) to her palmares: with Enterprise, Rainbow and Ranger.
But Bystander is iconic not only for her attendance, but in that she is, indeed, an exceptional and beautiful object, a 12.8-meter classic-flavored vessel launched in 1930 with one and only one goal: to assist Enterprise in her battle to defend the Cup.
Spoiler: restored, she still sails today, more beautiful than ever.
Here is her story
Bystander: more than a chase boat
The year was 1930, and the sailing world had a very specific class to run the show, the J-Class, perhaps among the most elegant hulls to ever ply the water.
With the Cup just around the corner, the American defender, Enterprise, had a specific need: she needed a support boat that was deeply seaworthy, capable of towing Enterprise herself and, at the same time, following her along the entire race course, ready to lend assistance if needed.
Of course, it also had to offer everything necessary for the well-being of its two crew members, as well as considerable space to house sails and equipment.
Thus was born Bystander, built by Greenport Basin and Construction Company, a 12.8-meter strong with a heavy-duty 175 horsepower.
On board, the layout was simple and efficient.
The bow housed the crew quarters, with bunks, services and galley, while, amidships, engine room, towing components and pilot house.
The rest of the flush deck and interior, however, was intended for the sails of the Enterprise, a 38.7-meter out-all strong with no less than 704.5 square meters of sail area… Quickly said, Bystander was a small masterpiece, proving immediately indispensable, excellent in all her functions, qualities that would see her remain on the America’s Cup fields far longer than the original hull she was to be alongside.
In 1934, in fact, it was the turn of Rainbow, defender and Cup winner.
Alongside her was Bystander, later also employed for Ranger, also a defender and Cup winner in 1937.
World War II interrupted the event, which would not resume until 1958.
Of course, with Bystander on the water, side by side with the 12 Metre International Tonnage Vim, in the practice stages for the regatta.
It will be Columbia, however, that will serve as defender, while Bystander will be sold in tandem with Vim to Sir Fred Packer, Australian yachtsmen who will begin the hunt for the Cup under Australia’s colors.
Bystander will always be present in the Cup, decommissioned only with the advent of the 1970s.
Bystander: rebirth
In the 1980s, a new figure entered the picture: Elizabeth Meyer, the proponent of the J-Class revival (she restored both Shamrock V and Endeavour). Indeed, Meyer began a series of restorations of the great icons of the America’s Cup and sailing, until, in 2002, she also managed to get her hands on the Bystander, an undisputed icon for the history of the event.
She herself will compare it, along with the J-Classes, to marvels of human ability, sublime specimens of industrial art, as beautiful and functional as the Eiffel Tower.
A comparison that will seem exaggerated, but which she follows up with a reflection that gives it measure instead: We would care if it (the Eiffer Tower ed.) fell, and so it is with these masterpieces.
It’s not every day that, as a species, we are able to create such simply beautiful things.”
Adding value to this is the exceptional restoration the boat underwent: 23,000 hours of work spread over nearly 8 years of refit.
An exceptional journey that, now with a 440-horsepower Yanmar and 17 knots of top speed, sees the Bystander back sailing in the waters where she was born, as splendid as ever.
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